Linn is one of the most
important forerunners in High Fidelity, there is no question about that. Every
audiophile knows what Sondek LP12 is and what kind of influences it has brought
into the vinyl player technology and source thinking, especially as for the
latest Radikal, Urika and Keel innovations. But, Linn’s strongest innovations
are not limited into the analog domain only. It covers also the digital domain.
Already for years, Linn DS-players have got a great appreciation among the serious
enthusiasts and professionals. Personally, I can confess as well, that they
really deliver an alternative for a music source, even though one would own
LP 12 already!

Nowadays, the innovation
story has got a new content. For a short time ago Linn announced a new “source
is in the speaker” technology, called Exakt. This means that the signal
is fed digitally into the speaker and all the conversions, processing duties
and amplifications are made in the Exakt speakers! Actually, feeding speakers
digitally is not a totally new idea, but the way Linn does it really is. I will
open the technology issues more in the next part of the writing, but it is well
known already, that the only way to achieve lossless transmission is to make
it digitally.

Musiikin.com demoed The
Exact system 14-27.2.2014 and naturally I took an opportunity to visit there
as well. The system consisted of Exakt DSM and Klimax Exakt 350 speakers. The
music files came from the server to the DSM. Demoed was also how the system
handles the analogue signal coming from the LP 12 and phono preamp!

Technology

Besides the more safe digital
transfer of the signal, Linn tells that the Exakt technology
• eliminates the magnitude and phase distortion of analogue crossovers
at design time
• corrects for the manufacturing tolerances of individual drive units
at manufacturing time
• optimizes for your a unique home environment at installation time.

All these are achieved by
hyper high resolution digital technology. Just like the DS products, the Exakt
DSM has an internal resolution of 35 bits which enables, at least theoretically,
lossless volume control and crossover design. DSM has also the same kind of
upsampling processes as DS has, in which the sampling rates are 384 or 352.8
KHz at a precision of 35 bits.

The possibility of the DSP
is interesting. On one hand, the acoustic problems of rooms should be taken
away by acoustic treatments, at least mostly, but on the other hand, DSP is
a much easier way to make corrections. I think DSP is a nice extra for the Exakt,
but not necessarily among the best features in the most critical information
saving manner.

Although Linn Exakt is mainly
built for a studio master downloads, analog sources have not been forgotten.
Exakt DSM has a high quality analog input which make 24/192 AD-conversion. In
absolute terms, the conversion seems to be questionable, but in practice, it
is reasonable and in this kind of solution actually a must. If your music sources
are purely analog and Red Book digital, you may well continue living with a
high quality analog system. On the other hand, Linn Exakt concept offers values
and features which may make even this questionable. Still, I think, that the
sonic results of the best analog systems can be referable to those of the Exakt.
Otherwise, there is no comparison at all.

The data from the DSM to
the speakers is transferred via Exakt Link which is synchronized (the data frame
has a clock signal). Actually, Exakt DSM is some kind of switch which has ADC
for the analog source and which delivers the signal to the speakers with control
information. Everything else is done in the speakers! The on-board digital crossover
in each Klimax Exakt 350 delivers six independently controllable channels, each
with its own volume control, DAC and power amplifier. So, the heart of the Exakt
functionality is in the Exakt speakers!

I did not have very much
time to listen to the system, but I think one hour was more than enough for
making some most evident observations of the music reproduction. I knew the
guys in Musiikin.com had plenty of music available, including some of my red-book
test samples. So, I needed only to sit down and choose the samples from the
pad. In the latter part of the session, I listened to some LPs as well, just
for making sure how the analog inputs work.

Even by the Red Book samples,
it was clear that the music reproduction was exceptionally good in the package.
Besides the well-known Linn-strengths, the music presentations were now more
open, detailed and dynamic. Especially, the interpretational information of
the music was much more evident than during the previous visits. The presentation
seemed to miss only the very last bits of the decay information of certain instruments,
like triangles and cymbals. Anyway, I believe this was not because of the Exakt
concept, but because of the positioning of the setup, and probably because of
the nature of the tweeter - the treble performance of the Klimax Exakt 350 seemed
to be a bit more on back than forth.

The Exact system shined
also rhythmically. To achieve this, the system must have high level dynamics,
resolution and correct speed and timing. In many mercy audio systems, all the
attacks of percussions are more or less smeared. This makes listening easy,
but also less inspiring. The Exact system avoided this kind of lacks hands down.
Additionally, it may be useful to know that I could enjoy the music samples
and their rhythmical patterns even far out of the sweet spot.

Clear was also the best
sonic balance I have heard in the Musiikin.com demo room. Although the room
is sonically challenging and it causes some bass notes to be more prominent
than the others (just because of room modes and reflections), the bass region
was not exaggerated at all. The punch of the bass was not quite among the most
powerful ones I have heard, but surely impressive enough, smooth, very extending
and articulating. In other words, the bottom end presentation revealed benefits
of the Exakt technology as well.

Instead of opening the spatial
reproduction of the music vertically and horizontally into the very end, the
Exakt system concentrated on the depth and structure. The presentations were
simply exemplarily structured in both ways, in a melody separating manner and
in a spotting manner. No matter if the sonic view was done in a studio or in
a real concert hall, the Exakt system could catch the melodies and locations
of players very well. For example, the instrument groups of the Minnesota Symphony
Orchestra (RR Respighi) were clearly separated into the places where I have
used to here them. This was not so clear in the previous Linn demos, but now
it was.

Finally, I will write a
couple of words about how LP12 worked with the Exakt system. On the whole, the
vinyl samples worked very much like the digital ones: excellently. There were
no hints of messing up the analog signal, no hints of digital hardness and no
hints of extra distortion. The music flowed with both realism and beauty. Actually,
I liked the vinyl performance a tad more than the digital one (I did not use
studio master files). In many cases, at their best, vinyl sources deliver more
natural and more acceptable performance than digital ones, at least for me.
So it is even with the quite affordable vinyl players. Reasons for that are
quite well known, but opening this requires another story.

Conclusion

This was absolutely one
of the best Linn demos I have ever heard. In many ways, it was the best one.
How high it rises in absolute terms and in comparison to the other brands, is
very much dependent on the preferences of each listener. I know that in many
ways there are absolute truths in audio performance. For example, delivering
more dynamics is always better. Still, people are different and typically strong
in their attitudes and doubts. So, the final decision is anyway an individual
question. In this case, clear is that the Exakt concept works and it contains
theoretically and technically a superb basis. Surely, Linn will make improvements
in the future (personally, I would concentrate more on the technology after
the DA-conversion), but as mentioned, the concept really works. Actually, very
well!